🚀 go-pugleaf

Hello,
I am a production manager for a small business who is looking to purchase a color laser printer that will be my ultimate workhorse. I am working on two 700-page books that are predominantly BW, so fast output is very helpful. But I will also be designing some 4C pieces for collateral and book covers, so having above-average color fidelity is also extremely desirable (it will be as close to an in-house proofing system as we are likely to get). This printer also needs to work with both a Mac G5 and a PC with Windows XP. I am using Quark Xpress, Illustrator CS and Photoshop CS. Also our commercial printers will be printing these books (all 1400 pages that are chockful of ads and graphics) entirely from PDF files that I will be running.

I am handicapped by price; I am likely to have to buy this printer out of my own pocket, so I am looking for less expensive than more so, both in terms of inital price and toner/supplies. I cannot afford a high-end Xerox Phaser, and am coming to the sinking conclusion I may have to fork out up to two grand to get the features I need. I absolutely cannot afford over $2,000. Less would be far better.

My main question has to do with Postscript. There are relatively few such color lasers in my price range with true PS. Hewlitt-Packard has plenty of cheaper printers with PS emulators, but will this really do the trick? Or do I need to stick with true Postscript (like PS 3)? I also want to minimize nasty surprises once I run the final press PDFs. This could make the difference between whether I buy a $1,000 or $2,000 machine.

Reading online printer comparisons, skimming printer manufacturer advertising, and talking to bumbling sales people in electronics stores has now confused me more than anything else : ) Any advice on the PS issue, as well as recommendations on what color laser printers in my price range are best (color, reliability, cost to maintain, cross-platform compatibility), would be absolutely wonderful. I really appreciate your taking the time to respond to my desperate call for help!